The Whole Enchilada
by FeliciaMaplewood
Summary: Francine and Amanda come to an uneasy truce when forced to work together at a Taco Stand. Complications between Lee and Amanda ensue -Don’t they always? . Set in season 3 with one alteration in the order of the episodes.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Whole Enchilada**_

_Set in Season Three – Immediately Before __Over the Limit._

_Synopsis: _Francine and Amanda come to an uneasy truce when forced to work together at a Taco Stand. Complications between Lee and Amanda ensue (Don't they always?).

_Disclaimers and Caveats: Scarecrow and Mrs. King_ was created by Brad Buckner and Eugenie Ross-Leming, and is a production of Shoot The Moon Enterprises, in conjunction with Warner Bros. Studios. Shoot The Moon Enterprises, Ltd. is owned by Kate Jackson. _Scarecrow and Mrs. King_ was filmed at the Burbank Studios and surrounding areas in Burbank, California. Stock footage filmed in Washington, D.C. during the first season. Regrettably, I still do not own the characters, but I did take them out for another spin. Also very regrettably, I will not receive any remuneration – this was also just for fun.

Warning (especially for purists): For the story to make sense you will need to suspend disbelief and imagine that the Wrong Way Home takes place before Over the Limit. Also, Amanda offers Francine chocolate in this story - but only because virtually all women like chocolate.

_This story sequentially follows my previous story __Highland Fling__. Reading that will help provide background, but is not essential to this story. As one reader pointed out about Highland Fling – What about Leslie? Hopefully this story provides that missing link!_

**The Whole Enchilada – Chapter One**

"Somehow, I just can't picture you serving Chaco's Taco's with a smile, Francine." Lee quipped, leaning back in a chair in Billy's office.

"As a professionally trained agent," Francine shot Amanda an underhanded look, "I can assume any role necessary."

"Have you ever eaten a taco, Francine?" Amanda asked dryly, knowing she was treading on dangerous ground.

"I've been to Acapulco on vacation." Francine responded with a lift of her chin, evading a direct response to the question.

"Burrito, Chimichanga, Enchilada….refried beans?" Lee countered with suppressed laughter in his voice.

"If you two have quite finished your Abbot and Costello routine, some of us need to focus on work here." Francine responded starchly.

"All right, children," Billy interjected, "Lee does have a point, Francine. As a professionally trained agent and my assistant, there are many roles we can use you in for this assignment. I know we can depend on you…", he placated her.

Francine nodded stiffly and rose, turning sharply to the door; her notepad held as a shield in front of her chest. She did not appreciate being their figure of fun and did not need to waste any more of her valuable time this morning.

As Francine all but slammed the door behind her, Lee bent over in laughter that could no longer be contained. Even Billy had a subtle smile as he attempted to regain his composure by reading his notes from their briefing.

Amanda scolded them. "Lee, she'll hear you!….And sir, I didn't mean any disrespect. I'm sure Francine would be just fine serving tacos…." She sighed in exasperation as Lee went off into peals of laughter and even Billy chortled. "But sir, if there is anything else that she would be more comfortable doing, I have had to make Spanish rice, beans and tacos for Jaime and Philip's international banquet this past year. It might be more up my alley…."

She broke off, looking nervously over her shoulder at the door. Francine would be sure to overhear this, and if she didn't everyone else in the bullpen would and the news would make a lightning fast rounds to Francine Desmond's highly trained and attentive ear. If there was one thing Amanda had learned over the past two and half years at the agency, nothing got past Francine Desmond. She also knew that while Francine might be annoyed with Billy and Lee for their responses; she would take it out on Amanda for having been the one to witness it. Amanda sighed again, she really didn't need any more complications in her life.

"Actually, Amanda. I suspect I will need you both working at the Taco stand. It is the only place that we know is a consistent drop. I'd want someone there with you as backup….And I suspect Francine will need assistance with the taco assembly, as well." Billy finished with a slight smile.

Amanda nodded quickly in acquiescence, her eyes bright with curiosity. "Just who are we tracking, sir?"

"It's a splinter guerrilla organization, Quetzal Sun. We think they're smuggling state of the art anti-aircraft weapons and portable surface to air missiles from sites all over the country. But the ringleaders we believe are right here in Maryland."

Lee butted in, "Billy, are you sure it should be Francine with Amanda, what about…"

Billy cut him off, "I'm sure, Lee. We are planning on having you go undercover into Quetzal Sun. Francine and Amanda will be your contacts, by keeping them at Chaco's Taco stand, it will be in keeping with their already established routines." Billy pointed to the file in front of him, as he gazed urgently at the pair of agents. "We're getting a lot of heat on this one from the Pentagon."

"Not just from the picante sauce, eh, Billy?" Lee riposted. His tone became serious as he reached over to take the file from Billy's desk. "Joking aside, Billy….we get it. We'll nail this one." He reassured his boss. Billy nodded, wearily, the weight of the country seemed to rest on his broad shoulders.

No one person should have to shoulder so many burdens, thought Amanda as she took her cue and rose gracefully from the opposing chair. She often worried about her superior whose kindness and solid common sense they all relied on. She looked back over her left shoulder at him, concern wrinkling her forehead .

Lee's hand rested on the small of her back as he gently guided her from the office. If there was one thing he understood, it was when a man needed to be alone with his thoughts. And, after all, they had a job to do….

--

"Are you ready yet?" Lee called impatiently from the bottom of the stairs. He paced impatiently from Amanda's living room to her kitchen and back. He just couldn't understand women and packing. How long did it take to throw a couple of jeans and shirts into a bag?

Amanda rushed down the stairs, clad in jeans and a pink t-shirt with an overnight bag looped over her shoulder. She quickly patted down her hair, adjusting the headband across her forehead. "Ready! Sorry, I couldn't begin packing until Joe picked up the boys and Mother went to the hairdresser. She wants to dye it red and asked me what I thought. I mean what do you say when someone asks you something that you just know will be a really bad choice? I had to figure "Is she asking because she wants my opinion or is she asking just because she wants me to agree with her?" I never do know how to answer those questions. You're bound to make a mistake either way, you know? Anyway, she decided to stay as a blonde because blondes have more fun….which I think might have been a comment on my social life, but I chose to overlook it." She paused for breath, "So, do I look alright?" she asked brightly, looking up at Lee.

He swallowed, commenting on Amanda's appearance had begun to make him nervous ever since he had started paying attention to it in the past few months. "Well that depends, are you looking for my opinion or do you want me to agree with you?" Amanda looked startled and he revised with a quick smile. "Just joking, Amanda, Yeah, um…you look just fine." She looked better than fine. Fresh and sunny, and good enough to eat. Amanda looked lovely in the slim evening gowns she favored, but he had to admit he liked her best just as she was right now. She was beautiful without being fussy. He cleared his throat and looked away. "Speaking of blondes…you going to be OK paired up with Francine?"

Amanda lifted one shoulder in a small shrug, and gave a quick smile but looked away from Lee as she responded. "It's just a long weekend…how bad can it be?"

"Hey there….don't let her rattle you." Lee gently grasped Amanda by both shoulders and leaned back and cocked his head to catch her eyes. "She's more nervous about this assignment than you are, anyway."

"Fearless Francine, nervous? I don't think so, Lee" Amanda laughed, but without much humor.

Lee gently rubbed her upper arms. "Francine cooking?! She doesn't have a good history with that Amanda! And she is never quite as confident as she looks, remember that!"

Amanda nodded quietly; she took in his darkened hair and olive drab fatigues. "So, it looks like you're in character then?"

"Yeah, Miguel Santiago, at your service. Dealer of arms, jack of all trades…" He gave her a jocular smile and a mock bow.

"You'll be careful, won't you?" Her fingertips rested lightly on his chest as she looked searchingly into his hazel eyes.

"I'm always careful, Amanda."

Amanda snorted delicately in response. "Sell it to someone who's buying, Scarecrow."

"All right, all right." Lee pulled her in for a light hug and brushed a quick kiss across her forehead. "I'll be even more careful. You ready to go?" He released her reluctantly.

Amanda nodded, a little surprised at his affectionate gesture, but loving it all the same. "Ready to face the dragon."

"I'm gonna tell her you said that!" Lee taunted.

"Lee Stetson, don't you dare!" Amanda replied, closing the door behind her. She didn't need even more trouble with Francine, especially if they were going to spend the next three days together.

--

Francine gazed with dismay at the trailer that she and Amanda would be sharing for the next three days.

"Oh this is just great, Mr. Chaco." Amanda enthused, "Frannie and I didn't know it would be so close by. It has a great yard. It's even better than the photo we saw." She gently elbowed the blonde next to her. Francine turned a glacial look on her, was Amanda getting soft? How could she manufacture such enthusiasm for trailer park housing?

"Just great, Mandy." Francine ground out as she gingerly entered the single-wide trailer.

"Girls, girls….call me Chaco.! Nice that you're best friends if you're going to be working together. Drop off your stuff and I'll take you on a tour of my Taco Kingdom."

Behind his rotund figure, Francine rolled her eyes. Amanda glanced through the trailer. Worn, but serviceably clean. It could have been a lot worse. "Now girls, there's just one bed, but this here is a pull-out sofa." He kicked the sofa covered in avocado and brown plaid tweed. "The television works a treat for channels 8 and 13, otherwise the picture's a might fuzzy." He turned around to look up and down the two attractive slim figures facing him. "I know you're both gonna be mighty popular around here!" He laughed suggestively.

Amanda smiled uncertainly, but pulled back on Francine's elbow as the broad man turned his back. The last thing they needed to insure the success of this mission was the petite blonde drop kicking her new boss into next week.

"You know you two were the only ones to respond to my ad?" He called back to the two women following him only a short walk to the food service trailer proudly emblazoned with "CHACO's MIGHTY TACOS" in yellow and red on the side.

"Imagine that!" Francine commented sourly, following him into the trailer. She knew the agency had made sure that their response was the only one he would receive. Lucky her. Sometime in her childhood, she must have done something very wrong and she was being cosmically punished by this assignment.

In the narrow confines of the trailer, Chaco instructed them in the daily routine and the assembly of his "mighty taco". In addition, the trailer served as a small kind of general store, selling cigarettes and fish bait, as well. Francine shuddered inwardly as each new undignified chore was demonstrated. It was just her luck to be assigned with Miss Congeniality, who wore a sunny smile as if this was just a slice of heaven being presented to her on a crystal platter.

She pointed to the brass medallion hanging from a black cord on the cork board tacked up over some grease spattered notes and phone numbers. "Your good luck piece?" she asked.

"Well, now, little girl….you might just say that." Chaco laughed briefly. "I have a special service for a very special customer. He's a private guy and he trusts me to get some…messages…out to his friends. When we have customers wearing a red bandana stuck through their belt, we sometimes a get a message to pass on for my friend. You'll keep the message right here." He showed them a narrow drawer that slid almost invisibly from below the counter. "When a guy wearing a necklace just like that one comes, you slip the message in the napkin for his order." He lay his finger against the side of his nose and winked suggestively. "These are good guys to be friends with, girls! And they sure like company from the likes of you." He positively leered.

Francine heard Amanda quietly gasp behind her. She smiled at Chaco and replied with sugary sweetness. "Aren't we just so lucky, Mandy?"

Amanda responded with a noncommittal murmur. "So when do we start…Chaco?"

"Now's as good a time as any." He responded and passed them each a red and yellow garish apron. Amanda fastened hers quickly in a business-like fashion and set to preparing the bins of chopped lettuce and tomato. Francine lowered hers slowly over her coiffed blonde hair. This could be the longest three days of her life.

A few hours later, she sank into the thin cushions of that detestable sofa and groaned. She no longer wondered. This would be the longest three days of her life. She lifted an incredulous glance at Amanda who was bustling about the kitchen just beyond her. "What are you doing?" she inquired.

"Getting dinner on." Amanda called out over her shoulder. "Hamburgers and potato salad, unless you want a taco." Her voice had a teasing note.

"I don't want to think about tacos, touch one or smell one for the rest of my life." Francine shot back.

"Can't say I blame you, there!" Amanda replied with rueful humor.

Francine shook her head. At least Amanda wasn't a whiner. If anything, the woman was indefatigable. She reluctantly said, "Need any help?"

"No, all set!" Amanda cheerily replied

"OK, then!"

"Until it's time to wash the dishes, anyway."

Oh. So there was a catch. She had learned a bit about the housewife from Arlington today; there was a tough core to that woman. Reluctantly, she had to admit, she wasn't all bad. Amanda had taken quickly to the routines of making and serving the tacos. She had shouldered the lion's share of the work and hidden Francine's ineptitude in food preparation from Chaco's intermittent observations. Amanda had coped with the leering and the flirting of most of Chaco's customer base with a small smile and quiet banter of her own. She would have figured that Amanda would have been overwhelmed by the rough and tumble crew of men she had faced, but she had stood her ground. And, after all that, she was preparing dinner while Francine was ready to go down for the count. Go figure. She rose and wearily made her way to sit in the kitchen while Amanda browned the burgers and mixed the cooked potatoes with mayo.

"You had some admirer's there today, Amanda."

Amanda shrugged quickly, she would have rather forgotten most of them. "There was that one who was kind of intense…the wiry shorter one with the gold ring. I think he was pretty interested in you." Amanda responded.

Francine sighed, but preened nonetheless. "That was Jose Rosado. I was able to ID him from agency photos. He's the leader of their merry band of men. It wouldn't be a bad thing to see if I could soften him up a bit."

"Did you see Lee today?" Amanda asked hesitantly.

Well there was no surprise, Amanda's thoughts were never very far away from him. "No. But I overheard some of them talking about the new hotshot, Miguel. He must be making some kind of impression. Lee's fluent in Spanish, and he can negotiate with the best of them. I'm sure he's doing just fine, Amanda." She found herself reassuring Amanda.

Amanda shrugged and gave Francine a quick smile as she slid the filled dinner plate in front of her new roommate. "Thanks, Francine."

Francine took a grateful bite of hamburger and swallowed. "Honest to goodness American food. Thank you, Amanda!"

Amanda laughed softly, "Well, it isn't haute cuisine, but I'm glad you like it!" She never would have guessed that she and Francine would have such an easy camaraderie.

"Want to watch TV after supper?" Francine asked.

"Sure, do we know what's on channel 8 or 13?" Amanda laughed.

"With our luck it will be wrestling or a rodeo, but at least we could check out the cowboys." Francine cracked.

It turned out to be a soppy, made for TV romance. They finished half a box of tissues between them as they both curled up on the lumpy sofa.

As the credits rolled, Francine said "You know what I really need right now?"

Amanda searched through her purse and produced a Hershey bar "Chocolate?"

Francine laughed out loud, "Yes!! Amanda you are the best roommate of all time!"

Amanda laughed, surprised at the playful banter between Francine and herself. She had pictured a far more difficult situation. "You only get half!"

"What if I tell you about the time that Lee ended up being arrested in Monaco?" she asked craftily. She had negotiated herself three quarters of a chocolate bar by feeding into Amanda's insatiable curiosity about her partner.

They chattered fairly amicably for another hour, though Francine managed to get in a few barbs which Amanda chose to ignore. Amanda offered to take the sofa and Francine gratefully headed off to the relative privacy of the tiny bedroom. All in all, she reflected, she could begin to understand why Lee so liked working with Amanda, after all.

--

The truck wheeled quickly into the dusty parking space near the taco stand, and four men spilled out of the bed of the truck and headed for lunch.

Two men in fatigues with red bandanas threaded through their belt loops climbed out of the cab and followed at a slight distance.

"Hey Miguel, Rosado said hands-off the blonde, she's his. But the brunette is 'bellisimo' and ripe for the taking, if you know what I mean." The man named Diego adjusted his clothing and laughed. "We'll have to see if you're the ladies man you bragged you are. I bet you can't get her to go out with you tonight."

A slow smile lazed across Lee's face. "I'm a betting man. How much would you like to wager, Diego?"

"Hey, she wasn't easy, you know. All of us tried yesterday." Diego looked with a calculating glance at the trailer. "I bet you fifty if you walk right up now and ask her she'll say no."

"How much time do I get?" Lee hazarded. It always took Amanda a few minutes to be talked into anything.

"Fifteen minutes, man."

"Deal!" He turned and winked at the tall guerrilla before striding toward the Taco stand alone.

--

Lee waited until the men had their lunches in hand and were lounging in the shade of a far oak tree.

"Hey blondie, you look cute in an apron!" Lee called through the window.

Francine glared at him. "Can I help you?" she asked him with saccharine sweetness.

"I'd like two tacos, extra hot with sour cream. A coke and smile, Hot Stuff." Lee gave a cocky grin.

Francine began loading his tacos from stem to stern with jalapenos. She'd give him hot stuff, all right.

Amanda began systematically removing the jalapenos as she added them. "Francine, honey, remember we have be nice to the customers." Francine sniffed and turned away to fill the soda order.

She whispered out the window "Stop trying to antagonize her, Honestly! You think it's easy working in this hot trailer all day?"

"Well, now, no, I don't imagine it is, maybe I could take you away from all this tonight. Want to go for a ride in my truck and grab a couple beers after work?"

"What?!" She hissed disbelievingly.

"Amanda," Lee murmured, "Smile at me and look like you're happy, OK? I need to connect with you tonight and this is the only cover we can get. Besides if you don't go out with me, there's a dozen guys ready to break down your trailer door this evening, instead."

"They only are interested in Amanda?" Francine looked affronted as she passed him his cola.

"No Francine," he placated her. "They just know they'll get their fingers broken by Rosado if they approach you. He's taken quite a fancy to you….Look Francine, can Amanda take a quick break so we can make this look real?"

"Well, of course….Miguel. How could a lady refuse you.?" Francine's tone dripped sarcasm.

Amanda slipped out the side of the retro silver trailer. She leaned her back against the side of the trailer, and Lee rested his forearm against the trailer just over her head as he leaned in to speak confidingly to her. To all appearances, they appeared to the other customers like a case of instant attraction. Amanda could feel her pulse begin to flutter as it always did whenever Lee was this close to her.

She looked beguiling, he reflected. Just hesitant enough, to be believable. But her smile lit up her face as she talked to him. She was skilled at dissembling, her talent might exceed his own. He found it very hard to playact attraction to Amanda when he was swamped with the real thing.

"Do you have a message to pass on to us?" Amanda whispered to him quietly.

"Not from Rosado." Lee scanned the surroundings with a casualness that was deceiving. "I'm pretty certain that he gave one to Diego there," he nodded toward the man at the counter with Francine. "You'll need to copy it quickly before the pickup arrives. See if you can establish any pattern to the time of the pickups. We think there's only a one time per day pickup, but we're not sure. Speaking of pickups, it's important that you agree to come with me tonight, Amanda. Honestly…for your own safety. It's better if the men think you're spoken for."

"Am I?" she hazarded.

"What?"

"Spoken for?" she whispered with her fingertips lightly tracing her own collarbone in unconscious flirtation.

"Yes!!" he spoke fiercely and pulled her up a quick claiming kiss that was as effective as stamping a brand on her to all the men who observed from a distance.

"Well, um….OK, then….what time should I expect you?" she asked, her cheeks coloring slightly.

"How about eight?"

"Eight." She nodded.

Damn, he felt good. An evening with Amanda and fifty bucks to collect from Diego. A cocky smile hovered around his lips as he returned to Diego under the shade of the oak tree across from the Taco stand. Life was good.


	2. Chapter 2

"Francine, I can't wear this!" Amanda exclaimed in a horrified voice.

"You're not going to a PTA meeting, Amanda. You're easy and you're going out to watch submarine races with a hot date and a bucket of beer." Francine retorted.

Amanda tugged down ineffectually on the hems of the very short denim shorts that Francine had insisted she borrow. She tucked the hem of her sleeveless white cotton blouse into the waistband neatly.

Francine stood back and pursed her lips, giving Amanda a once-over look. "Uh-uh. That won't do. Come here!" She reached forward and unbuttoned two buttons at Amanda's neckline and the bottom three of the shirt. Taking the shirt-tails, she tied them in a quick knot under Amanda's breasts, baring her midriff.

"What the Sam Hill do you think you are doing, Francine?" Amanda asked in a shocked voice.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm completing your transformation from a frumpy housewife to a backwoods sexpot." Francine sniped.

"I am not a frumpy housewife!" Amanda said between clenched teeth.

"Not tonight, anyway." Francine replied slyly .

"What do you mean " Not tonight?" Amanda demanded.

"Exactly that. You look like Miguel's date should look."

Amanda just snorted. To tell the truth, she didn't want to be Miguel's date. She wanted to be Lee's. "Francine, I'm too old to be anybody's sexpot."

Francine gripped Amanda's shoulders and looked her square in the eye. "Ha! Amanda, it's just a question of attitude!….Come on, I haven't done your jewelry or make-up." Dragging a reluctant Amanda by the hand, she pulled her into the closet-sized bathroom.

Amanda moaned quietly, but Francine was undeterred. She didn't allow Amanda to face the mirror until her work was complete. Amanda turned to face the mirror and gasped. The effect was dramatic from the overstated make-up to the dangling earrings that all but reached her shoulders. "I look like a hussy!"

Francine smiled a little too broadly. "Good! Just the effect I was working for!" She brushed her hands on her thighs and said, "Now that you're done, I better start in on myself." She headed for the small bedroom to complete her own transformation.

Amanda called out over her shoulder, "I didn't know you were going out too!" She began to daub off some of the make-up. Only so much excess was really called for.

Francine's voice floated down the length of the hallway that separated them. "I'm not going out, but since our friend Jose Rosado will find out that you won't be here, I'll be very surprised if I don't have a visitor this evening. Make sure you don't get back before mid-night…." Her voice was muffled as she pulled a skintight shirt over her head. "I'm going to have to convince him that he had the night of his life."

"Francine, you wouldn't!" Amanda exclaimed.

Francine re-entered the bathroom and began applying her make-up with a trowel. "Well, I would if I had to, but thanks to my good friend Mickey Finn here," she tapped a medicine bottle resting by the sink, "I shouldn't need to. If I have to, I have a stun gun under the mattress. A girl has to be prepared for any contingency."

Amanda wondered if she would ever have the confidence and the willpower that Francine exhibited. She felt wholly inadequate to the job when she was called on to perform this kind of subterfuge. She looked in the mirror and bit her lip.

Francine looked at her face in the mirror. "Amanda, you can do this. It's just Lee, it's not like he would ever try to pull anything."

Amanda let out a short forced breath. Little did Francine know where things stood between Lee and her, actually to come to the point, she wasn't sure where they stood either. But she was right, when push came to shove, there was no-one Amanda could trust more than Lee.

They heard a knock on the door. Francine glanced at the clock; "Showtime, Amanda."

Amanda gave a sharp nod and headed to the door. Francine called from behind her. "Don't be afraid to swing your hips a little more. Didn't you bring any higher heels?"

"No, I didn't Francine!" Amanda replied through gritted teeth. She had had enough and the evening hadn't even started. In her irritation, she pulled the door open forcefully to face Lee.

Lee's eyes opened wide and he lost his breath. It was like someone had punched him right in the solar plexus. Her irritation had brought color to her cheeks and a flash of fire to her eyes. Those legs….damn, her legs stretched to eternity. He began to stutter…."Am..Amanda, uh, um… you look…uh…"

"Like Daisy Mae in warpaint!" Amanda retorted.

"Well, uh, it looks good on you!" Lee replied, beginning to be able to find words again. He knew that he would never be able to look at Amanda quite the same way again. Remembering Amanda dressed in short shorts and strappy, heeled sandals would keep him up late at night. She looked like any red-blooded teenage boy's dream tonight. He found that not all of his tastes had quite grown up, after all. "So did Francine help you, uh, with your new….look?"

"I'm not sure I would say she helped me. Let me get my purse and we'll go." Amanda gave an aggrieved sigh.

"Goodnight Amanda, remember don't come home before midnight!" Francine called down the hallway.

"Kind of a reverse curfew, huh?" Lee asked with a quick grin.

"Please…let's just go!" Amanda replied.

"Your wish is my command, my lady!" Lee swept out his hand to invite her into the cab of the black pick-up truck.

He closed his eyes momentarily as she climbed up into the cab, flashing a long expanse of uncovered leg. There was only so much temptation a man could take. Lee climbed into the drivers seat and an awkward silence reigned. He gazed at the road, the rearview mirror, the speedometer….anywhere but his companion in the cab that suddenly seemed much too small. Finally he forced himself to make conversation. "So, are you and Francine getting along?"

"Until the last half hour when she decided to become the beautician from my worst nightmare, I'd say we were getting along just fine. Actually, she's been pretty….nice." Amanda's voice faltered. She realized in surprise to herself that she had actually been becoming closer to the supercilious blonde agent.

"Francine's not bad, really." Lee contributed. "She's just had such a tough battle making it in a guy's profession that she doesn't realize that she doesn't always need to fight."

Amanda thought quietly to herself that he had provided a pretty astute observation. She hadn't realized he thought so much about his colleagues.

"Mmm….maybe you're right. So where are we going?" Amanda asked.

"Not much out here, is there?" Lee countered as they made their way through miles of dark roadway. "There's a hill with a good outlook over Rosada's camp near here. I thought we could chat and look at the stars while we wait and see if there are any deliveries this evening. Rosada doesn't really trust me, yet. He seemed really anxious to have me out of the way this evening and was real happy that I had a date with you……I think he was the only happy one in the camp."

"What?!" Amanda asked.

"Well, let's just say you left a lot of broken hearts out there by going with me this evening." Lee laughed and glanced over at her.

She looked shocked. Amanda really had no idea how attractive she really was. If any of them had gotten a look at her tonight, he would have had to fight them off with a stick. The combination of her underlying innocence and her sultry appearance was a lethal draw. He pulled in an unsteady breath and pulled his eyes back to the road.

"I don't think it's their hearts they were thinking about." Amanda retorted dryly.

Lee coughed in surprise. Maybe she wasn't as innocent as she seemed. "So, what do you think of working at a Taco stand with Francine?" He switched to a more neutral subject.

"As Francine said, I don't think I want to eat, see or smell another taco for the rest of my life," she laughed.

"I remember this fantastic Taco stand down near a surf shop I used to go to in Florida. The colonel just hated my going surfing," he recollected. "Man, I could have lived there forever and never wanted to eat anything else." Lee laughed.

"You surf?….Of course you surf, you're an adrenaline junkie." Amanda laughed softly to herself.

"What's so funny about my surfing?" he asked, mildly affronted.

"I can't see you as a carefree surfer dude, but I guess I can see you trying to kill yourself in yet another sport….." Amanda ruefully shook her head. "We are so different, Lee."

"What!?…Surfing isn't that hard, Amanda. I could teach you in an afternoon." Lee said in an afterthought.

Amanda laughed outright. "When would we ever be in a position for you to teach me how to surf? Besides, I can't see myself waxing down the bottom of my surfboard and hitting the waves." She chuckled at the image.

"You don't wax the bottom, you wax the top so you can get enough grip to stand on it. You could do it, Amanda. You sure have the figure for it." Lee felt the color rise in his cheeks as he realized that he hadn't edited his thoughts.

Amanda blushed lightly. "That isn't the point I was making, Lee. I'm just pointing out how different we are, I mean, we really don't have anything in common."

"What?!" Lee replied indignantly. When had Amanda written him off so completely?

"I mean it, Lee. Really….name me one thing we have in common." She challenged him.

Lee was startled by the question. He felt so comfortable with Amanda and felt they were growing closer than ever before. Clearly she didn't feel the same way. His thoughts scattered as he tried to quickly point out to her how very much they actually had in common…..but his thoughts just wouldn't come fast enough.

"See my point? Surfing!" Amanda snorted lightly.

He pulled the truck into a clearing. It was a high hill with a steep cliff that overlooked the valley below. He parked the truck so that they could sit in the back to face the view below.

"Here?" she asked.

"I guess this is the happening spot in Grief Hollow." Lee responded.

"Where on earth did they come up with that name?" Amanda wondered.

"I guess the valley wasn't settled by optimists," Lee quipped.

They walked to the back of the truck and Lee spread out a worn cotton blanket across the truckbed. Amanda clambered in and sat with her arms wrapped tightly around her drawn-up knees, tilting her head to look at the stars.

Lee leapt lightly into the back of the truck with her. "We do too have things in common." He couldn't let the topic go.

Amanda quirked a closed mouthed smile at him that he could just make out in the twilight. "Okay, Scarecrow, name one."

Lee frantically thought back to all he knew about Amanda. Again, he was slow to respond, "Pot roast!" he pulled out.

"Ha! I like pot roast. You like Enoki mushrooms." she replied. She was perversely beginning to enjoy herself. She didn't know why she was driven to point out their differences when all she wanted was to be closer to him. Francine's ministrations had put her in an uncharacteristically peevish mood this evening.

"Old movies, restaurants, ….we both like sunsets." He countered.

"Uh-uh, Lee, most people like those things!" she rejoined.

"You know what, Amanda King? You are a fraud!" Lee said with growing confidence.

"Me, a fraud?" she asked.

"Yes…," he leaned in closer to her resting his weight on one hand. "You are an adrenaline junkie, too."

"What?!" she sputtered. She was the most cautious person she knew!

"Uh-huh. This job….you keep nearly getting yourself killed and you still come back for more. You crave it….mystery, danger…intrigue." His voice had deepened and their faces were mere inches apart.

She pulled back slightly and coughed, taken aback. She had never thought of herself that way. She realized in surprised pleasure that her partner did. "Maybe you're right." She allowed.

"Maybe?!" he countered with a lift of his brow.

"OK - so you may well be right." she agreed half-heartedly, with a shrug and small smile.

Lee laughed softly to himself, happy to have turned the tables on her. He reached into a red cooler on his right and pulled out two cold bottles of beer, quickly prying off the tops with a church key. He passed one to her and tilted his head up to gaze at the stars above.

Amanda took a sip and pulled a face, before placing the bottle back down by her feet. Lee glanced over at her. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry…I hate beer. It tastes like soap."

"I thought you loved getting beer…..didn't you and Joe always get pizza and beer at that place Doobie's?" he asked.

"Dooley's," she corrected him absently. "Pizza was all we could afford when Joe was in law school. Beer was Joe's favorite, not mine."

"Well, personally, I'd rather be sharing a nice bottle of Cabarnet with you right now, but that doesn't go with my image back at camp," Lee rejoined. "Aha! One more thing we have in common! Red wine - see, I told you! When this is all over we can split a bottle of wine and never drink beer again!"

"I'd like that," Amanda replied softly with a gentle smile.

"So Joe has the boys this weekend?" Lee asked rhetorically. He couldn't resist asking her about her ex, though he didn't know what made him do it. It was like needing to probe a sore tooth. You touched it and realized, yeah, it still hurt, again and again.

"Mmm. He was late, I was afraid he was going to stand them up again, but he came." Amanda sighed and then took a long sip of the detested beer. While having Joe back in the country was good for the boys, in many ways her life had been easier when he lived out of the country.

"Don't you ever get angry at him, Amanda?" Lee asked softly. While Joe King wasn't altogether a bad guy, he couldn't reconcile and forgive the way he had left Amanda to shoulder the burden of raising her sons alone. He didn't understand, wholly, how Amanda could. Yet, she wasn't bitter like most of the divorcees he had known.

"I'm not a saint, Lee. Of course I get angry!" Amanda smiled wryly. "It's just that having divorced parents is hard enough for the boys. I don't have to make it harder by having them know I'm angry with their dad. Every kid deserves to think both of his parents are perfect." She shrugged with resignation and took another long pull of beer.

Lee shook his head silently, then took a long pull on his own beer bottle. "You're a better person than I would be, Amanda."

Her beer bottle was mostly empty and Lee provided her with another one. She had become re-accustomed to the taste, and having finished one bottle she felt a little more carefree and comfortable with herself in her scanty attire. She tipped her head back and felt the cool night air on her face. Her tongue loosened and she offered, "You know, we actually tried counseling before it all fell apart."

"You did?" Lee replied skeptically; he had little use for counselors and shrinks.

"After six months of counseling, you know what she told me? That Joe loved me as much as he was capable of loving anyone." She laughed quietly and bitterly.

"Yeah?" his voice encouraged her to continue as he gazed at her profile.

Amanda shook her head at the memory. "Darn it all, Lee. What more could I do? He loved me as much as he could love anyone….but he should have loved me more." She whispered it with a ferocity he had never seen in her. "That's when I decided to get a divorce." Her lips tightened in the effort to suppress remembered tears.

"Amanda….," Lee threaded his fingers through hers and coaxed her into looking at him, "Amanda…he was a fool. A damn fool." His other hand cupped her cheek as his thumb brushed over her lower lip. "He had everything any man could ever hope for and he didn't know it…..You were right. You deserve more." Both of their barriers had dropped and his heart was in his voice. It was more imperative to him at that moment that Amanda be comforted than he protect his own heart.

"Thanks, Lee" Amanda responded, her voice cracking. Unconsciously, they both leant in for a kiss, their eyes drifting shut. The moment couldn't be denied. This time, she knew they would actually do so and she trembled lightly.

"What the hell?!" Lee's eyes snapped open as he heard engine noise approaching their secluded spot. Amanda all but groaned in frustration. Not again.

"Damn, I might have known they'd follow us!" Lee snarled, ripping his shirt open as buttons flew everywhere. "Quick, Amanda, undress a little," he waved a hand generally towards her upper half, "you need to look a little ravished, undo some buttons or take off your bra."

"What?! Lee, are you crazy? I will do no such thing!" Amanda said sharply.

"Amanda - they think we came up here to fool around! If we don't look like it, they'll figure out why we're really here. Either you undress some or I'll help you do it." Lee replied fiercely.

"If I undress any more, Lee, I'll be buck naked! Francine didn't leave me with many clothes!" Fiery sparks flew from her eyes as her cheeks flamed.

"Use your imagination!" Lee shot back.

She turned her back to him and quickly unsnapped her bra, pulling it off underneath the cover of her sleeveless shirt. She draped it over the side of the truck, then unfastened and refastened the few buttons of her blouse so they were misaligned. She reached up to muss up her hair, and whipped around to face him. "Satisfied?!"

Not nearly, Lee thought; his mouth ran dry. She was a siren and she didn't even know it. He nodded sharply, not trusting himself to speak. He wanted nothing so much as to plunder that mouth and lose himself in the rush of desire that threatened to consume him. He didn't need to know that she wore lacy peach lingerie. It was much easier to imagine her in white serviceable cotton. His fingers itched; he wanted to complete the job she had begun….so damn much.

The engine noise was getting louder and closer. "I'm sorry, Amanda….just play along, OK?" He wrapped one arm around her in a vise of steel and bent her back to the bed of the truck. Her eyes widened and he could feel her heart pound in what he presumed was fear. "Don't worry, Amanda, I'll keep you safe." He reassured her.

From everything but her attraction to him, Amanda thought wildly. She should be afraid, she should be scared spitless. But all she could think of was his scent and the slide of her hands along his back under his loosened shirt. He felt so good. Then, as his lips scorched her neck, all her thoughts fled.

Lee bit back a groan as he felt Amanda's hands slide up his back and he went up in flames. There was no way to hide his reaction to her and she was sure to know now as his body was crushing hers in the bed of the truck. His hand fisted in her curls as he bent to kiss her neck. He had the oddest sense of déjà vu, though for the life of him he didn't know why. He couldn't remember when he had ever wanted a woman this much, and it was his partner, damn it. He felt Amanda arch against him and her leg slid over his hip and he moaned incoherently. Did she have any idea how much she affected him?

Amanda was lost in sensation and insensible to the fact that another truck had swept into the clearing, it paused with its headlights washing over the embracing couple. Satisfied that they were otherwise fully engaged, the truck peeled off leaving a light cloud of dust behind.

Lee waited until he heard the truck's engine noise die away. He reluctantly pulled back from Amanda, resting his weight on his left forearm and gazing down into her fathomless dark eyes. He was pleased to note they were as unfocused as his own. She wasn't immune to the attraction between them either, even if she thought they had nothing in common. He all but snorted; they sure had this in common.

"I think they're gone." He found his voice was husky and cleared his throat. He felt his right hand almost unconsciously slide down her smooth left leg as he pulled himself away, and he couldn't suppress a shudder as he fought to bring his body back under his own control. He lay on his back and covered his face in his hands, drinking in great draughts of the nighttime air. Think of a cold ocean swim, he told himself,….the lineup of the Orioles….the multiplication table….'Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta'….

Amanda lay beside him, quivers still wracking her body. She should be embarrassed. She couldn't believe the wanton response that Lee could so easily wring from her, when most men couldn't even interest her enough for a goodnight kiss. "You sure they're gone?" her voice cracked.

"Yeah." He couldn't trust his voice to say more. He couldn't trust himself to return to the kiss they were about to share before they were interrupted. In his current state there was no way he would be able to limit himself to just a kiss. He couldn't countenance making love to Amanda for the first time in the bed of a pickup truck either.

"Good." She didn't know what else to say. She pulled herself up into a sitting position and wrapped her arms tightly around her knees. She couldn't face Lee just yet. She was simply shaken to the core by his effect on her. She tilted her head to look up at the stars, anything but focus on the bare-chested man next to her. "What time is it? Francine said I can't go back before midnight."

Lee glanced at his watch. "It's just 10:15 right now," he answered roughly. He cursed to himself; Amanda recovered a lot faster than he did. "Now that they've checked on us, I'm betting they'll be making a shipment out. We should be able to see something from here."

"But it's nighttime! What on earth can we see from here?" Amanda questioned.

"Infrared…latest technology courtesy of the Pentagon." He passed a weighty set of goggles to Amanda.

"Oh my gosh!" Amanda replied looking through them and seeing more than she ever expected. It was disorienting and she pulled them off quickly.

"I have the old-fashioned kind here," he held up a pair of black binoculars "These are good for seeing the stars until they get down to business down there."

"I thought you'd need a telescope for that." She recalled he had a telescope in his apartment but she hadn't realized he was such an astronomy buff.

"Nah….binoculars are better for some things." He pointed to the west. "See that bright star there?" Seeing her nod he continued, "That's actually Venus…now, look just above there and see if you can see a group of stars."

Amanda squinted, but she didn't know what she was looking for. Lee gave her the binoculars and sat behind her, gently guiding her to look for the Seven Sisters in the night sky. He heard her gasp in amazement. "Those are the Pleiades - the Seven Sisters. You can see them better through binoculars than a telescope." Without thinking about it, she leaned back against him, lost in the beauty before her. Lee tilted his face to breathe in her perfume in the curls behind her ears. He just couldn't get enough of her. Struggling, he tried to focus. "Indian tribes used to use them as a vision test….you had excellent vision if you could point out all of the seven stars."

Surprisingly, Amanda began to feel herself relax in his presence again as Lee pointed out each of the constellations and explained their legends to her. He was such good company, she realized. Her eyes smarted as she came to terms of how much she wanted this man, body and soul; and how unlikely it was that he would ever be hers.

"Why the frown?" Lee asked, sensitive to her changing mood.

"No reason." She shook her head lightly. "Thanks for the astronomy lesson! Jaime and Philip will be very impressed next time I take them camping! It gets harder to impress them as they get older, you know," she laughed.

He looked uncharacteristically relaxed, leaning back against the side of the truck with his head tilted up to the stars. A gentle wind ruffled his hair and she could smell the fresh pines all around them. She could get used to being with him like this.

Truck lights turned a corner in the valley far below them, and Scarecrow immediately leapt out of the truck bed and slid on the goggles; tense alertness in every line of his body. Amanda sighed and followed suit. "Four…no, six trucks. Damn, it's a bigger operation than we thought." He said.

She took out a small pen light and notebook and began writing down everything that Scarecrow observed. The delivery and unloading took the better part of an hour before all activity below ceased.

"Did we get what we came for?" she asked as she stowed the notebook away.

"Well….as much as we're going to get." Lee responded with frustration. "I hope Francine is able to get something out of Rosado tonight, I'm not getting enough in the time I've been with them."

"Do you think she's all right?" Amanda responded with a worried frown.

"Don't worry, Amanda, Francine's a tough cookie and she knows what she's doing." Lee consoled her.

"That's why I worry. One of these days Francine is going to bite off more than she can chew and there won't be some tall Scotsman to take the bullets for her." Amanda responded tartly.

"OK then, why don't we just get back and check on her." Lee responded sharply. He didn't like being reminded of her connection with the Scottish agent Ian Fraser, even if he did like the man. "It's past twelve, so she should have no gripe with us."

"Thanks, Lee." She responded softly. " I just worry."

Lee couldn't help but smile, "Yeah, I know." His hand drifted to the small of her back as he escorted her to the cab of the truck. While he might have rewritten the script for part of the evening, he couldn't recall when he had spent a night as memorable as this one was. He shook his head, as he headed back to the driver's side. One hell of an evening indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

"You're awfully quiet today, Amanda," Francine said with a secret smile. She knew she was baiting the other woman. Amanda had returned last night highly disheveled, and, if she was not mistaken without wearing a bra. The curiosity and suspense were killing Francine.

"Well, Francine, you said I shouldn't return before midnight. I'm not used to functioning with so little sleep." Amanda responded in an abstracted manner. Her thoughts were clearly elsewhere, as she deposited jalapenos in the bin where the tomatoes should go. That morning, Francine had seen Amanda put salt in her coffee and she had buttered her toast with sour cream. Something was definitely on the brunette's mind; and Francine very much doubted it was sleep deprivation.

"Anything happen last night you want to talk ab…"

"NO!" Amanda shot back quickly and uncharacteristically. She took a deep breath; she knew better than to excite Francine's already overactive imagination. "There's nothing to tell, Francine," she went on more calmly. "You saw my notes, we didn't really get much. Certainly not as much as you got from Rosado."

Francine preened. She prided herself on her ability to extract information from any source. "He really wasn't such a hard nut to crack," she pouted. "So typical…just dying to impress me. I didn't have to ply him with anything but alcohol and a little hope that he could work his way into my pants. He was only to happy to tell me about what a hotshot he was and the big deal he had going down today. He said he'd be netting a mint of money and wants to take me away to the Caribbean." Francine rolled her eyes.

"How did you get him to leave?" Amanda inquired.

"I just told him that I was worried you might be back any time, but that tonight he could have me all to himself. Little does he know that after we break up this two-bit operation this afternoon, he'll only be seeing four cement walls with a roomie named Brutus." Francine was very sure of herself, but then, she usually was.

Amanda nodded thoughtfully, but it was clear that she wasn't fully invested in the conversation. Francine's lips tightened. There was more going on here than met the eye and sure as shootin' she would be the one to find out what it was. All she needed was time.

"Hey, you two working hard or hardly working?" Lee, in character as Miguel, called through the order window.

Francine raised her eyebrows as she saw Amanda whip around and then back up against the prep counter behind her. She looked like a deer in the headlights. She also saw that Lee's eyes were locked on Amanda and the color was high in his cheeks. Just what had happened up on that hill, she wondered.

"Hi! Can we help you?" Amanda squeaked. "Would you like a Taco? It's a little early, I know. But some people do eat their lunches early. That can happen if you skip breakfast, which most nutritionists say you should never do. Eating early gets your metabolism in gear for the day. We don't really have a breakfast menu here, but I'm sure we could whip something up if you're hungry….or want….anything…" her voice began to falter and her face colored.

Francine looked at her in amazement, surprised that she had managed to get that all out in one breathstream. "What can we get for you, sugar?" She asked leaning on her crossed forearms resting on the order window frame, she raised her eyebrows in ironic inquiry at Scarecrow. He mentally groaned, he knew he'd be facing an inquisition from the blonde at a later date.

"Not hungry, just couldn't wait 'til lunch to see my sweet querida again," he responded with an ounce too much charm to be genuine. In a low voice he muttered to them both, "I don't know what's going on, but I'm not sure if there's been a change in plans about the arms exchange today. Rosado's way too jumpy for it to be the smooth operation he described to you, Francine. Be on the lookout - you armed?" he shot a glance at Francine.

She snorted. Did he take her to be a tyro? "No problem, Lee. We've got it covered." she answered in a low, confident voice.

Amanda nodded quietly with serious eyes. "Thanks, Lee…..Be careful!" she whispered. Only the crease between her eyes and a tightness around her lips betrayed how worried she was about her partner going back into his undercover role.

A shadow of his cocky grin stole over his face. "I'm always careful, Amanda." He felt better when he saw her roll her eyes and a slight smile tugged at her lips. It relieved him to see they were on more normal footing. He gave them a sketchy salute and blew them a kiss with a jaunty wink before returning to his truck. To all intents and purposes, he looked like any Joe flirting with his girl at work.

As his truck sped off leaving a cloud of fine dust in its wake, Amanda sent up a silent prayer to keep him safe. She needed Lee in her life. "Do you think there's any chance they suspect us, Francine?"

Francine shook her head confidently. "No. Rosado's convinced we're just a pair of brainless bimbos." She shot a quick tight grin at Amanda's horrified face. "Relax! That means we're doing our jobs, Amanda!"

Amanda couldn't relax. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that something was going to go horribly wrong today. Call it instinct, call it pessimism….but she wasn't going to relax until this mission was done and buried. As the hours passed and they finished prepping the foods and then handled the lunch rush, the niggling worry remained. She was jumpy and continuously scanned through the limited view the order window provided them. Doubly so when Francine left her with the chore of cleaning up the debris from assembling lunch in order to take a load of trash to the dumpster in the back. Francine had come a long way this weekend, Amanda reflected with a small smile remembering the senior agent's horrified face when she had passed her the very first bag of trash.

She heard a crash behind the trailer and a muffled shout. That was her only warning before the side door slammed open and a burly figure crashed through the door. His rifle was aimed straight at her as he shouted "Arriba, Arriba….get your hands up." He gestured using the rifle toward the ceiling.

Amanda's face was taut and her eyes opened wide in startled surprise. She was the very picture of helpless womanhood and looked as if she was going to comply, but as her hands rose she swiped a squeeze bottle of hot sauce from the counter and squirted it right into her assailants eyes. His high pitched scream was deafening in the small space as the heels of his hands pressed into his eyes. A stream of what she imagined must be Spanish curses filled the air. She quickly took a large can of jalapenos from the shelf and knocked it hard against the side of his unprotected head. She breathed a small sigh of relief as he slid quietly to the ground. The Lord only knew how long he would be out. Amanda folded over a wad of soft flour tortillas and stuffed them in his mouth as a makeshift gag. She quickly tied his hands behind him with a trash bag that she twisted into a makeshift rope.

Reluctantly, she took hold of his rifle, and quietly edged to the door. With all the commotion he had made, she was sure she would have company soon. She would have to deal with that before she could go help Francine. Her instincts proved right as the narrow frame of Lee's compatriot Diego came unsuspecting, barreling into the trailer. Amanda caught him from behind with the butt end of the rifle and gave a sigh of relief as he also sank to the ground. She didn't even take the time to tie him up before disarming him and quickly exiting the trailer and locking the door from the outside, reinforcing it by sticking a nearby board through the door handle.

She slung one of the rifles over her shoulder and held the other closely against her chest as she scanned the surrounding area. Where on earth was Francine? She cautiously scouted out back and sure enough found Francine bound and gagged, propped up behind the dumpster looking as mad as hellfire. She knelt quickly by her side and loosened the gag and bonds efficiently, pressing a rifle into the blonde's capable hands.

"How did you…?" Francine began.

"Shh!! I'm not sure if there are any others around." Amanda whispered urgently.

"Well, there were only two that arrived in that tan pickup truck…They're the ones that jumped me out here." Francine reasoned.

"No, Francine, I've been thinking. How would they know to suspect us? What if our trailer was bugged, and who provided us the trailer?" Amanda led Francine through her own thought process.

"Chaco! That son of a ….., when I get my hands on…., I'll shove a taquito right up his…" Francine sputtered in her rage. "Where do you think the bastard is hiding? He sure was happy enough to have someone else do his dirty work."

Amanda nodded in agreement. "He reminds me of the women on the Little League fund-raising committee who are happy to provide suggestions and take credit, but don't like doing any of the down and dirty work."

"Just charming!" Francine rolled her eyes at Amanda's bizarre analogy. "Where do you think he is now?"

Amanda thought out loud. "If I'm right and he's such a hands-off type, I bet he planned to be away while they took care of us. He'll probably be heading back here now if he thinks the coast is clear."

Francine had a small but ferociously bloodthirsty smile. "Wouldn't it be a lovely surprise for him to have us waiting at home for him?" She nodded over to his double-wide trailer at the far end of the clearing near the Taco stand.

Amanda nodded once with intent eyes. Early in her career with the agency, she would have balked at anything approaching illegal entry. In this circumstance, she had no such compunctions. "I wonder what else we might find there! I have a feeling Taco's aren't his only line of work."

Francine eyed Amanda with newfound respect. Maybe Billy was right, she did have good instincts. And Lee was right, she would always back up her partner. Ian had sure found enough to admire about her, Francine remembered with some rancor. All in all, if she was in a tight corner, she guessed that she didn't mind being in it with Amanda King as much as she might have thought a few days ago. As they scouted for cover and made their way across to Chaco's trailer, she asked "So how did you take out those two guerrillas?" She assumed that Amanda had made use of the hand-to-hand combat lessons she had given Amanda at Ian Fraser's insistence.

"Oh…I sprayed the first one in the eyes with hot sauce and then I conked him on the head with a can of jalapenos." Amanda answered brightly.

"Amanda! Why didn't you just use the gun I strapped to the bottom of the counter? You knew it was there!" Francine exclaimed.

"Francine, I don't like guns…besides the hot sauce was handy."

Francine shook her head….just when she thought Amanda was making progress, she reverted to form. They would never make an agent out of her at this rate. Francine shook her head in quiet disgust.

Amanda felt the waves of disapproval, but she was used to that from Francine. Ian Fraser had convinced her that she would use a gun if she had to, and she accepted that. Well, no, but she was approaching being able to accept that. But if she didn't need to use a gun, she saw no call in doing so. The bottom line when she faced her assailant was that she knew he was some mother's son. Life was precious - even his.

When they arrived at Chaco's apartment, Francine provided her cover as she quickly tripped the lock to his trailer. Entering, she wrinkled her nose in distaste. If cleanliness was next to Godliness, Chaco was going to hell in a hand basket. "To think this man operates a food establishment!" she said in shock and disgust at the detritus spread around the trailer.

Even Francine's face expressed fastidious disgust, using the tip of the rifle to lift a paper plate encrusted dried food atop a pile of papers on his desk. "We don't even know what we're looking for," she complained.

"I'm betting it will be something to do with financial gains. Chaco didn't strike me as the type to have enough political principle to join a group as radical as Quetzal Sun." Amanda said, flipping through the checkbook register. She looked back nervously over her shoulder. "Um, Francine, should one of us be on the lookout for him if he returns?"

"What? You don't have a can of jalapenos handy?" Francine countered with a flippant retort.

Amanda smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I just have a feeling he could show up at any time."

"Hey, well you may be right." Francine peered through grimy venetian blinds next to the door. "That's his truck pulling in now. Good, he drove straight past the Taco stand. Coward," she muttered under her breath. She would make this man pay. Oh, she'd stay within the letter of the law, she knew the limitations her job placed on her; but she also knew every loophole she could exercise to make his life a living misery once the tables were turned. She looked over at Amanda and jerked her head to the far end of the trailer. Amanda nodded in silent acquiescence and made her way quietly to the back of the trailer with a firm grip on her rifle.

Francine backed up flush against the wall. He wouldn't see her until after he came in, after it was too late.

Without an evident care in the world, Chaco opened the trailer door and walked into the living area, fingering through his mail. It wasn't until the door closed behind him with a forceful thud that he turned around to face a wrathful Francine bearing a rifle pointed right at him. "Surprised to see me, Chaco?" her voice dripped equal parts honey and vengeful sarcasm.

Chaco's mouth worked open and closed, like a foundering fish. "You…uh., they were supposed to…, uh, well, hello there Frannie…" he finished weakly, deciding too late to pretend he knew nothing.

"Don't you dare "Hello Frannie" me, you scumbag!" Francine snarled, advancing with clear intent. "Get your hands up where I can see them!"

He looked wildly about him and grabbed a tall brass lamp next to the recliner behind him. He held up the base, prepared to bring it down on the diminutive blonde until he felt the sharp end of a rifle dig into his ribs from behind. Amanda had made a virtually silent entry. "I think you should reconsider your options, Chaco." She said firmly. He placed the lamp back down on the ground, resignedly.

"Perhaps you'd like to take the time now to describe your part in this little charade here!" Francine asked in a voice that was low but threatening.

Amanda waved the checkbook register and a small red diary in the air behind him. "Oh, I don't think you'll even need to ask him, Francine. He can't keep a room clean, but his books are neat as pin. I think the government will be very interested to find out where he's getting these 25,000 dollar deposits from each month. I don't think tacos bring quite that much profit around here."

"Nice work, Amanda!" Francine spoke with unreserved respect. You could have knocked Amanda over with a feather, she never thought to see the day that would happen. "Anything else?"

"Oh yeah," Amanda continued with enthusiasm. "It looks like Mr. Chaco has been taking those coded messages from Jose Rosado and copying them, then selling them to the highest bidder. Bad policy, Mr. Chaco, I can't imagine Quetzal Sun will look on you too kindly once they find out." She shook her head regretfully.

Chaco's forehead broke out in beaded perspiration. "Look…I never did anything to hurt you girls…", seeing the intractable anger on their faces, he revised "er,….you ladies. I didn't know they were going to go after you….I'm just a businessman," he continued to bluster, but it carried no weight with the women he faced. "Look, those guys play hardball….I mean it….If you let them know what's in that book, they're gonna kill me." He looked beseechingly at the women in turn.

Amanda suppressed a small smile, looking at Francine. "Well, I don't know Mr. Chaco….the government takes a very dim view of you bugging people's residences, and I don't think Francine over there believes you that you didn't know they would try and hurt us. And, after all, we are government agents." She shook her head in regretful consideration, "But it might help your case if you can tell us what you know…" her voice trailed off.

Francine snarled, "We don't need his information - I bet he wouldn't have anything worth using anyway. I say we turn his name over to Rosado's superiors in Quetzal Sun. Let them take care of their own dirty laundry."

Chaco panicked at the prospect. As if it was scripted, their good cop, bad cop routine paid dividends. Chaco couldn't tell them enough about Quetzal Sun as well as about the rest of his prospective buyers. Francine called Billy to request backup and by the time the help arrived in thirty minutes time, Chaco was still singing for his supper.

Billy arrived on the scene, with an anxious faced Lee in dusty fatigues right behind him. "Amanda! Thank God!" Lee pulled her in to a tight embrace, burying his face in her soft brown curls. "Are you all right?!" He pulled back to look in her eyes anxiously, gripping her upper arms tightly.

"I'm fine, Lee," Amanda reassured him. "Really!"

"I'm fine too, Lee, Thanks for asking!" Francine said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Glad to hear it." Lee didn't even process her sarcasm which infuriated her more. "Nice work back there in the trailer, Francine. Those guys had no idea what hit them."

Color rose in Francine's face, but she had to give credit where credit was due. "Actually, Lee, that was Amanda's doing. She swings a mighty fine arm with a jalapeno can."

"Amanda?! Nice work!" Lee congratulated her with a smile that lit up his eyes. His left hand rested now on the small of her back. Right then, he needed to keep contact with her.

"Actually, Francine, I have something to return to you." Amanda's head ducked with embarrassment. She pulled out a small silver handgun from her yellow and red apron pocket. "I found this in Chaco's bedside table."

"That's my pistol!" Francine exclaimed with wide eyes.

"He must have taken it before this morning." Amanda reasoned. She bit back a small smile, "I guess if you need to count on a weapon in a Taco stand, you have to figure that hot sauce and jalapenos will always be there, even if a pistol isn't." She couldn't resist a gentle jibe back at Francine, even though she knew she would probably pay for it later.

Francine nodded stiffly and held out her hand for her handgun, which Amanda gingerly placed in her palm. Francine flipped open the barrel to see if it was loaded, then pocketed it when she was done. She spun on her heel to go make a report to Billy.

"Haven't you learned yet, Amanda, there's Francine's way and there's the wrong way?!" Lee's voice conveyed both affection and humor as he pulled Amanda to his side in a gentle hug.

Amanda sighed in relief and rested her head on his shoulder - relief that once again they were all alive and safe, and relief that she and Lee were back to being comfortable again. Perhaps her life could return to what passed for normal as an Agency employee.


	4. Epilogue

Amanda wasn't wholly surprised to see Lee in her garden that night as she finished the evening's washing up. Somehow, she had a feeling in her bones he would stop by. Still, her heart caught and skipped a beat when she saw him flash a grin and lift an eyebrow in invitation to join him outside. She gave a quick and cautious glance behind her, but her whole family was upstairs.

She eased out the kitchen door and gently closed it behind her before walking on silent feet into the dark recesses of the garden to join Lee. She slipped her hands in her jeans pockets to keep herself from touching him just to reassure herself that he was alive, unhurt and with her this evening.

"Hey there…" she whispered, her voice cracking slightly.

"Hi…uh,…I just wanted to make sure you were really OK….That was quite a weekend." Lee gazed down at her face, just to reassure himself that she had made it through this latest adventure fully intact.

She shrugged and smiled in her usual self-deprecating way. "Well, it was interesting!….I never imagined being Francine's roommate, after all." Her mobile face became more serious and intent. "But what about you, with all the reports and interviews this afternoon, I never found out what really happened to you out there…Are you OK?" Against her own volition, her left hand reached out to touch his chest, but then she drew it back sharply to finger the top buttons of her blouse. Her eyes fell to the ground as she felt awkward in the moment.

"Yeah…well, like I told you and Francine this morning; I just had a sense that something was going down wrong. Somehow, I just knew I was being played….Rosado sent me on an errand and I just had a bad feeling. I drove like a bat out of hell once I got out of there and ditched the truck as fast as I could. Good thing, it had been rigged with an explosive. But, hey, since they thought they had gotten rid of me, they were sure surprised when I came back to bust up their operation." He smiled with grim satisfaction.

Amanda knew that look - it reflected one of the many facets that made up Lee. She loved them all, the vulnerable boy; the charming rogue; the loyal colleague; and yes, even the lethal agent. She rested her hand on his forearm in gentle commiseration. "I have a feeling this one was harder on you than you're letting on."

Amanda always saw through him, he realized without surprise. He could feel some of the tension leaving his shoulders. If he were honest with himself; he would admit that he didn't come here this evening to check to see if she was all-right; but because she made him feel all-right once again.

He let out a forceful breath, followed by a short laugh virtually devoid of humor. He looked up at the night sky; he couldn't face her empathy directly. "I just feel filthy," he admitted. "Whenever I have to go undercover with these losers and scum; I feel like I'm losing a part of myself. I don't know…it didn't used to bother me…" his voice trailed off.

"I don't think so, Lee" Amanda finished for him. "I think it probably always bothered you. It's just that you've seen so much more of it over the years. Thank God it does affect you, doesn't that just show the decency at the core of you?" She reasoned and smiled reassuringly, "I haven't seen you becoming a 'loser' or 'scum', but if I do, I'll be the first to let you know," her laugh was low and intimate in the quiet night that surrounded them. "Lee, honestly," she cupped his cheek in her palm to force him to look her in the eye, "you are one of the most decent men I have ever known."

Lee's breath shuddered out in relief at the benediction he found in her eyes. How had he functioned without Amanda? God, what would he do if he ever lost her? He wanted her, but he didn't really deserve her; he knew that. Look at his track record; fidelity and longevity were not his strong suits in relationships. And Amanda deserved more….she deserved so much more than she had already had in Joe. Gazing down at the trust and faith in her eyes; he wished he felt he deserved it. He wished he knew he could be what she needed; but he couldn't. No matter how much he wanted it.

Amanda's eyes searched his, wondering why he suddenly looked so vulnerable and forlorn. What had she said wrong? "Lee?! What is it?" she asked urgently.

He shook his head, almost as if to clear it. He didn't know how to say what he knew needed to be said. He took a step back, because he couldn't be touching her and keep his wits about him.

"M-o-m," Jaime's voice rang out from an upstairs window. "Telephone." Amanda turned to look toward the house. "It's that guy from Scotland, again."

"Tell him I'll call him back lat…," she turned back to find that Lee had already disappeared, "er…." she finished. "Ooh!" She planted her fists on her hips. "That man has the worst manners." How could he have walked out on the discussion they were having? How could he have thought she would?

Amanda quietly despaired of their ever finding common ground. After all, love - especially if it was one-sided, could only take them so far. Regretfully scanning her suburban yard and her own casual garb she had to acknowledge to herself with finality that they really did have nothing in common. Lee Stetson would never go for a normal woman like her.

--

When Jaime said that Ian Fraser was calling Amanda; Lee felt like a bitter knife had been inserted between his ribs. He couldn't stay and put a good face on it. Not tonight. Not when his soul already felt stripped to tatters. He vaulted the picket fence and made his way to the side street on which he had parked his silver sports car.

Resignation and common sense told him it was a good thing that Ian was calling Amanda. Hadn't he just been about to tell her why he could never be what she needed? Ian was everything that he was not. Had his wife Fiona lived, he would have been her loyal husband to this day. Ian was probably everything that Amanda needed instead.

But even deeper, the less rational side of Lee felt a flash of jealous pain. He hadn't realized Amanda was keeping such close contact with the Scottish MI 5 agent. After all, Jaime had said 'the Scottish guy" was on the phone "again." Well, then, screw it. Amanda wasn't going to be the one for him - she had men on a string waiting for her. She would be just fine…and he would be fine without her.

Hey…maybe it wasn't even Amanda. Maybe he was just ready for a different kind of woman; someone a little….deeper. Instead of dating another bottle blonde from the steno pool, he could ask out someone who had a life - a teacher or a librarian. Come to think of it; hadn't there been that interpreter he met at an embassy party? What was her name? Lana….Laura….Lena…No! It was Leslie. Fine. He'd call Leslie when he got home.

His rational mind had a solution, and a good one. He should be feeling better. His heart, though, was still twisting in the wind at the thought of Amanda twirling a telephone cord around her fingers as she chatted with Ian -- a smile on her lips. He amputated that thought at the knees.

If he had any skill in the world, Lee was particularly practiced at silencing his inconvenient heart.


End file.
